When I saw Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil’s post for this year’s cookie swap, I was so excited to be able to participate (one requirement is that you have an active blog, so that you can easily share your cookie recipe and help to build the food blogging community). We started this blog over a year ago, but didn’t actively keep it up. Over the summer, we moved to a new living situation, which has given us new motivation and a fresh start with the blog. Luckily, the timing was such that I could consider FTF an ‘active’ blog and thus be able to participate. Woo! I was excited to bake (and receive) cookies, as well as become a part of the blogging community and learn about new blogs.

I knew exactly the recipe I wanted to share for the swap: my most favorite cookie, ever. When I was in high school, my best friend’s aunt would make these delicious little bite-sized tarts and share them with us whenever I was over. It was mostly during the holiday season, but once in a while she’d pull them out at other times as well. I loved them so much, and I would always ask her for the recipe. She never would share it, claiming it was a secret. In fact, I never even knew what these mini tarts were called. Once I started baking on my own, just after college, I decided to research the recipe, and when I finally figured out that it was for these pecan tassies, I was so excited. Ecstatic, really. And so, I decided to share my excitement with my cookie swap matches by baking each of them a baker’s dozen of these.

My matches were:

Valerie @ Pursuit of Sweetness (a fellow runner! I’m excited to follow along with your running. I just ran my first marathon in October, and I’ll be running my 3rd Half this coming Saturday!)

Alicia @ Balancing Motherhood (I’m looking forward to reading up on your posts about finding balance. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately, and I’m sure I can find some tips to help me ease my stress.)

I hope ya’ll enjoyed these little treats as much as I do. Any feedback–good, bad, or yummy–is welcome!

I think I first found the recipe by trial and error, since I didn’t know what these little treats were truly called. I traced the recipe I have in my ‘recipes’ folder back to Cooks.com, but I’ve modified it here for the cookie swap.

Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin cups and then remove each mini tart from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

I received 2 out of 3 cookie matches myself. The interesting coincidence is that both cookies were almost the same recipe: cranberry-pistachio! This is a new-to-me combination of ingredients, but I did enjoy trying it. I especially enjoyed Sarah the Pajama Chef’s version: Cranberry Pistachio Citrus cookies. They were soft (like the perfect chocolate chip cookie) and had a hint of citrus flavor, which I think played nicely with the dried cranberries. I also received Cranberry Pistachio Pudding cookies from Starr at Chicago Foodie Girl. These cookies were tinted green (fun for the holidays!), and were a more crumbly style. The pistachio flavor in these was more pronounced, which I personally didn’t enjoy as much. But if you enjoy pistachio ice cream, you’d definitely enjoy those! Check their blogs for the recipes!

I loved participating in the cookie swap, both because I could share my favorite cookie with others, and because, hey, cookies delivered to my doorstep! ☺

10 Responses

These pecan tassies sound great! I can see why they’re a continual favorite. They’re so cute too! I’m glad you liked my cookies. When I saw Starr’s cookies (I received them too) I thought it was funny that we both made the same flavor combo.

rlk! These little pecan tassies were absolutely fantastic!! They were little mini pecan pies and we know that mini = I can eat more!! I’m so happy I got to taste them and can understand why they are a perennially favorite of yours.

Hi there, welcome! Like a lot of people, my husband and I have a great DIY sense. We're also good at finding deals and saving money by doing things ourselves, so we developed this website: a resource for both veteran and inexperienced cooks to share the joy of making a meal for the first time.

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